Assembly Lines
Additive Manufacturing Helps Boeing Assemble Satellites Faster
Boeing is using additive manufacturing to reduce the amount of time that it takes to assemble satellites.
EL SEGUNDO, CA—Engineers at Boeing Space Mission Systems are using additive manufacturing to reduce the amount of time that it takes to assemble satellites. Their 3D‑printed solar array substrate compresses composite build times by up to six months. This represents a production improvement of up to 50 percent vs. current cycle times.
The first printed solar arrays will fly Spectrolab solar cells aboard small satellites built by Millennium Space Systems. Both nonintegrated subsidiaries are part of Boeing’s Space Mission Systems organization.
By printing the panel’s structure and built‑in features, Boeing can assemble the array in parallel with cell production. Robot‑assisted assembly and automated inspection at Spectrolab further reduce handoffs, improving speed and consistency.
The new array approach is designed to scale from small satellites to larger platforms, including Boeing 702‑class spacecraft, targeting market availability for 2026.
“Power sets the pace of a mission,” says Michelle Parker, vice president of Boeing Space Mission Systems. “We reached across our enterprise to introduce efficiencies and novel technologies to set a more rapid pace.
“By integrating [our] additive manufacturing expertise with Spectrolab’s high‑efficiency solar tech and Millennium’s high‑rate production line, our team is turning production speed into a capability, helping customers field resilient constellations faster,” explains Parker.
Beyond the arrays themselves, Boeing’s new production process enables a parallel build of the complete array, pairing a printed, rigid substrate with flight-proven modular solar technologies.
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“By printing features such as [wire] harness paths and attachment points directly into each panel, the design replaces dozens of separate parts, long‑lead tooling and delicate bonding steps with one strong, precise piece that is faster to build and easier to integrate,” notes Parker. “It is built upon the foundation of [our] flight-proven materials and processes.”
“As we scale additive manufacturing across [our company], we’re not just taking time and cost out, we’re putting performance in,” adds Melissa Orme, vice president of materials and structures at Boeing Technology Innovation. “By pairing qualified materials with a common digital thread and high‑rate production, we can lighten structures, craft novel designs and repeat success across programs. [Additive manufacturing] delivers better parts today and the capacity to build many more of them tomorrow.”
Boeing has already incorporated more than 150,000 3D‑printed parts into its aerospace products, yielding significant schedule, cost and performance benefits. This includes more than 1,000 radio-frequency parts on each Wideband Global SATCOM satellite currently in production and multiple small satellite product lines with fully printed structures.
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